A Season of Trivialities

What an exciting election season. Just think of the campaign issues everyone’s talking about. Al Gore gave his wife a long smooch at the Democratic convention; will this endear him to suburban women? George W. got in trouble when he called a reporter an...

Fight The Anti-Pesticide Pests

The West Nile virus came to my neck of the woods last week, when four dead crows turned up in southern Maryland and Washington, D.C. Am I scared? Yes, the possible presence of infected mosquitoes in my lakeside neighborhood is worrisome. But even more disturbing is...

Who Owns Your Genes?

Our genes are stretches of DNA that we got from mom and dad. They have been with us since our beginning. Genes built our bodies. They exist in each and every one of our cells. It seems reasonable that our genes shouldn’t be anybody else’s property. Yet,...

Al Gore’s Money Grab

Whose money is it?In a muddled political contest, where there is no basic disagreement on prescription drugs, education, or even foreign policy, the biggest issue might be: Which candidate, if any, thinks you have a right to your own money?Al Gore’s answer is...

Who is Al Gore Championing?

Al Gore claims he is trying to fight for “those who need a champion, those who need to be lifted up so they are never left behind.” Exactly who is Al Gore championing, and in what name? Is he championing the ideas of independence and self-responsibility?...

The Microsoft Saga

In a decision generally hailed as a victory for Microsoft, the Supreme Court rejected the government’s plea to hear a direct appeal of the government’s Antitrust case against Microsoft. In April, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled that Microsoft had...